It is known to mask a machine sound by using the original sound itself, or by separately generating cancelling noise signals to cancel undesirable sounds. Some medical machines may generate loud noises during a medical procedure which may increase a patient's discomfort, especially when the medical procedure is prolonged. Noise cancellation during the medical procedure may improve a patient's experience. However, it may be disadvantageous if the noise cancellation is only related to the operation of the medical machine with no reliance on any patient parameters, if the masking may be needed only for part of the operation, or if the noise levels shift during the medical procedure. It is not desirable to generate a constant noise cancelling frequency when the procedure is several hours long and may occur when a patient is attempting to sleep.
Noise cancellation may also be utilized to reduce ambient sounds in a medical environment (e.g., a hospital, nursing home, or care center), but may be disadvantageous in that it is not related to operation of a medical machine. Based on a patient's physical movements in a bed, for example, noise cancellation may be decreased to encourage regular patient movement during a sleep cycle to reduce the likelihood of bed sores. However, it may be disadvantageous when noise cancellation is not associated with a medical machine because noise generated by the medical machine is typically positioned nearer the patient and may be at a more noticeable volume than other sounds associated in a medical facility.
It is with respect to these and other considerations that the present improvements may be useful.